Speaking of green, it’s green here in Montana as far as the eye can see. Haying starts an hour before sunrise and ends about 10pm. The rainstorms haven’t helped much as you don’t want it to rain when you’re cutting your hay. You want to cut it, rake it into rows and then get it as dry as you can before you bale it. Ugh. Rain and I aren’t speaking right now.

The rain comes down in buckets and then… it heats up to 95 degrees. I’m starting to feel like I’m back in Mississippi some days.

But I digress…

Many people exploring Corten Castles for the first time are under the misconception that when using Shipping Containers (commonly called ISBUs – Intermodal Steel Building Units) you end up with a house full of long skinny rooms. It never occurs to them that you can place containers side by side and then cut out the inner walls to form wider rooms.

Even explained, some people have a tough time wrapping their heads around this.

Essentially, you end up with a “double width” space that looks like this;

This is a “Cubular” home, built by a company out of New Zealand. Regulars of the blog know that when we see something cool, we share it with you regardless as to whether or not OUR names are on it. We’re good at what we do, but then… so are some other guys. We’re glad Cubular is located in New Zealand, or we’d have some competition. They build some REALLY nice stuff. 🙂

While we generally offset our boxes to create even larger spaces, this gives you an idea what can be accomplished with “direct mating”.

You’re not living in a small, closed in space. The created spaces are bright, airy and elegant.

Even without adding an exterior veneer to this ISBU Home, it’s quite stylish and easy to look at. It’s not at all like the “apocalyptic graffiti covered boxes” you see in the movies, is it?

This is just the “starting point”. I know it’s hard to imagine, but with some creativity, ISBU homes get even better than this. (And for the record… we think this one is pretty darned good.)

You can’t buy a “Cubular Home” for export to the US, but you could build your own. We’re helping many families do just that.

We’re reading posts from “the allegedly learned” who claim that you can’t build an ISBU Home for under $150 a square foot.

It’s… “entertaining”, especially when it comes from people who have never actually built an ISBU home.

Rather than just cry “Bull-Puckey“, we’re going to let you tag along as we build ISBU homes in “budget areas” that others claim “unbuildable”.

You see, we want YOU to understand that those making these “It’s impossible” claims are just full of crap.

We’re building a trio of ISBU home right now, for three brothers living in Coastal Washington State. We refer to them around here as “Larry, Moe and Curly.”

Career bachelor. Larry works 12 hour days, plays the guitar and sleeps when he can. Sometimes he eats. It’s usually “fast food”. We know the type.

Each one wants a small ISBU home built from 40′ High Cube boxes.

The idea is that the similarly sized homes will sit near enough to each other to be tied together by a common deck facing a small “man-made lake”.

The first home (Larry’s house) is pretty straight-forward, (2) 40′ ISBUs placed side by side with the inner walls removed.

Like most families, Larry brought us some floorplan ideas that he thought that we could “twist”. It didn’t take much.

His ISBU home will be pretty “run of the mill”. It’s going to provide basic comforts with just a tad of flair.

The only thing that we’ve really done different is that we’ve designed a “bump out” that showcases an oversized “Moorish” carved door (that pretty much defined the space). It’s your basic Arctic Entry with a pocket door into the Great room (not depicted).

We’re talking about an ISBU home of a little over 700 square feet.

1 bedroom with a full sized bath, pocket kitchen, Great Room living and dining with a modern woodstove for heat.

We’re still debating overhead cabinets so they aren’t depicted but I’m confident that they’ll run all the way up to the ceiling.

The dining table pulls out of the cabinet. It can be extended using leaves to seat up to five.

Now Serving Happy Customer Number:

1,789,845 plus 1 grumpy old codger (who needs his mouth washed out with soap!) and a couple of stalkers. :)

Want to find an ISBU for your project?

Start HERE!

Well? Click it, already!

Sheesh, do I have to do everything?

Get the book that some people call: “The Beginner’s ISBU Bible!”

YES. We've gone and done it!

It's time that someone "separated the REAL players from the posers" in the ISBU Building Industry.

Increase your ISBU IQ and get all the High Tech SECRET ISBU Container Home Lore that other guys don't want you to know!

Click on the BLUE BOOK Icon to PURCHASE!

Seriously, if you're considering building a strong, sustainable, affordable home using these "wonderful steel building blocks", this is the book for you!

We have HUNDREDS of testimonials praising "Introduction to Container Homes and Buildings", from both family and professional alike!

While this book has been incredibly well received in both the building and architectural educational realms, we aren't just teaching colleagues and Architectural Schools how to build using ISBUs. Seriously, this book has helped MANY families pave the road to housing independence!

We all know that Cable TV has made ISBU construction "fashionable". Because of this... there are lots of "theorists" in ISBU construction right now.

But FEW people actually have any EXPERIENCE building or even using ISBUs. And, you can't find ISBU knowledge coming from real ISBU experts who have been primary players in the industry for years without signing your life away!

That's EXACTLY why we wrote this book! For less than the price of a lunch at a fast food chain... you can fill in the gaps and start building! It's the best $11.95 that you can spend!

Note: This is an E-BOOK distributed in PDF format.

After your payment, you'll get a confirmation email and you'll get a URL code sent to you that will allow you to download the book onto your computer.. This will come directly to you using the email address that you have provided! It's completely painless! :)

And don't worry... we won't get rich selling you this book, either. Funds from this book go directly to "The Corten Cavalry" to help families build homes! We've never needed your support as much as we do now.

Learn ALL the ISBU Facts and TRICKS from EXPERTS who have been doing it for over 3 decades! And you'll help out other families at the same time!

It’s time for INDEPENDENCE!

Reserve a copy of “The Nuts and Bolts of ISBU Buildings”!!

For a very limited time (at a HUGE discount - over 25%), you can reserve a copy of what many will call "THE ISBU Building Handbook".

My soon to be released NEW book is CHOCK FULL of drawings and details. It will show you HOW to turn a Corten Steel ISBU into a strong STEEL home for your family.

And ALL the money from the book PRESALE will be used to help families in need, in some very difficult times!

Here are the DISCOUNTED Donation amounts:

Book Only - $18.95

CAD Drawing/Illustration Package - $39.95

Book PLUS the CAD- Drawing Package - $49.95

And don't forget! Blog Members (you know who you are!) should include their discount code AND DEDUCT the amount from their total!!

The Vault!

The Vault!

DANGER!! DANGER, Will Robinson!

For the record, let me make this perfectly clear...
Blogs are about opinions. And some of us, myself included, have strong ones.
Some of us, myself included, can't be counted on to be "politically correct" all the time. So be advised that I call 'em like I see 'em, and sometimes I use strong language to make a point...
If you don't like that, I suggest you change the channel. If you DO like that, I appreciate your patronage.
This has been a public service announcement from the "We care... we really, really care..." foundation.
Donations are gratefully accepted.

Where do they come from?

"Container Enthusiasts" come from virtually everywhere on the planet! Here's just a brief look at all the places we get visitors from!

You guys and gals ROCK!

THEY COME FROM ALL OVER!

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Do you know a LEFTY Soldier who needs some “Strat Love”?

For some time now, (in fact, since 2009) we've been rehabbing and sending Lefty Fender Guitars and amplifiers to soldiers overseas.

Yes. We do Gibson's and Epi's too, but it's all about finding affordable "candidates" on a budget.

These axes are upgraded, stuffed into SKB TSA cases and then shipped out with all the goodies our paychecks will allow.

And every once in a while (about 25% of the time) a battery powered amplifier or (gasp!) a solid state or tube amp makes the trip, to insure that the whole squad can share the love that we're sending.

Yes. The amps get packed carefully into ATA cases and then... off they go!

We're NOT telling you this to ask for donations. We're trying to find hard-working men and women currently serving in harm's way... so that we can send them a gift to remind them that we love them and understand their personal sacrifices.

IF you have some old gear in a closet or laying around collecting dust, we'll be happy to rehab it for distribution to a soldier that needs some love.

If you know a LEFTY guitar playing American HERO, we wanna hear about it.

Why lefties? Because WE'RE lefties and we can work on and set up LEFTY guitars. And truth be told, lefties get left out. Lots of righty guitars in circulation. Very few lefties make it into the pool.

We think that sucks, so we're doing something about it, ourselves.

And, know that they'll never know where it came from. "Guitar GIfting" anonymously means just that. We don't need "atta-boys" or pats on the back... THEY do.

And we're gonna make sure they get them.

Feel free to contact us with candidates, or if you find something you think that we can use. We love doing this. And more importantly we know that they love it too.

Send Hate Mail Here: :)

renaissanceronin@gmail.com

Captain America would be proud!

The Secret Strat Project builds Fender and Gibson Guitars and then GIVES them away to US Soldiers serving our country overseas. You see, a little Maple, Alder, Rosewood and Ash can build a bridge all the way back home! If you'd like to help, please strum that beautiful Stratocaster with your mouse and follow the link!